Looking for Something

Chapter 3

Hey! Hey! You! You!

I don't like your girlfriend!

No way! No way!

I think you need a new one

Hey! Hey! You! You!

I could be your girlfriend

Hey! Hey! You! You!

-Avril Lavigne

~~Sydney~~

"Syd, LOOK OUT!" Too late. Did somebody throw a boulder at me? I feel myself falling and then I get caught by a strong set of arms and we both collapse to the ground.

"Damn, are you okay?" I sit up and dust myself off. When I realize I am sitting in this guy's lap I jump up quickly.

"Yea, I'm good. Are you okay?" I offer a hand to help him up, even though he doesn't need it. He grabs my hand lightly and lifts himself off the ground.

"I think I will live."

"OH MY GOSH! Syd, are you okay?" Rosetta comes running up to me with Isabelle and Kiana trailing behind her.

"Yea, I am fine. Uhh.." I gesture toward the guy.

"Cedric."

"Yea, Cedric here broke my fall. Too bad he couldn't break this bad headache." A headache is not what I want or need right now, but the pounding from the hit continues to grow the longer we stand here.

"Come on girl. You need to sit down." Kiana helps me towards our spot on the beach away from the little volleyball match some guys had set up. You would think they could control their ball a little better than that. "Here, drink some water." Ugh, I don't want any water. I need a pain killer. I take it from her anyways.

Instead of drinking it, I put it on my head. "So, you guys going in or what?" I gesture towards the water.

"Well, are you going to be okay with us going in without you?"

"Oh please. I got hit, not you. We came here to get into the water. Goo! Have fun!" Soon, they all run off in their swim suits towards the water. Isabelle jumps on Rosetta's back into the water. I lay my head back with the water bottle still on it, rotating it every few minutes to keep it cold.

"Here, maybe this will work better." I feel the bottle get pulled from my hands and I look up to see that Cedric guy again. I sit up and he hands me two little aspirins. Thank you! Finally!

"Thanks so much! I was just thinking about going to get some pain killers." I swallow the two pills and drink some water, then I sit back down.

"So, I broke your fall and I brought you what you most desired. I think, I at least deserve a name." That was smooth. I'll give him that.

"Ha, hi Cedric, I am Sydney. Thank you for catching my fall earlier."

"Cute name. And oh, that was no problem. You go to school around here?"

"Eh, kind of. Go to Barry University."

"No you don't."

"But I do."

"Nooo, I would know if you went there. I go there too, so it is not possible that I have never seen you before."

"Well, it is a big campus."

"So...wait. Oh I have seen you. You are always around that uh, Dominic kid, right?"

"Yea."

"Why? Y'all like cousins or something." He wishes.

"No, he is my boyfriend."

"Damn, of course."

"Why'd you say that?"

"All the cute ones have boyfriends." I feel my cheeks get heated a little and, thankfully, my phone starts to ring so it gives me an excuse to not reply.

"Hello?"

"Okay, so, Chantelle invited me to hang with her friends again tonight. Come with me."

"Where are they going?"

"I have no idea, but pleeaassseee!"

"Yea, sure. What time?"

"I will come get you at seven."

"Ok, what are you doing?" I hear him shuffling in the background.

"I am looking for my headphones. Have you seen them since you were last here?" I shake my head at the phone. He is always misplacing his stuff. Luckily, he has me.

"You put them in your football bag after practice yesterday." There is a long pause, which is when I look up and see that the Cedric guy is still standing in front of me watching me. That is so creepy.

"Thanks Babe, I would probably lose myself without you here." I giggle at his remark. "Hey, I am going to take a nap real quick. See you later."

"K, I love you."

"I love you too!" I hang up and I look back over at Cedric.

"I thought you would have walked away by now."

"I know it is kind of creepy, but you are interesting to watch."

"Okay, that is creepy but I am flattered."

"Sydney! Sydney! Sydney!" I feel a bunch of wet bodies attack me. They all pile drive me deeper into my chair and I can't help but laugh.

"Oh my gosh! What?" They slowly start to climb off of me and I dust some sand off my lap.

"You have to come into the water! You have to!" Isabelle shouts, making her hair drip more than it already is.

"Yea. I feel better now, so why not."

"Guess I will see you around?" Cedric says this to me as he walks away.

"Yea, see ya." I pull off my shorts and shirt and I run with them to the water. It does feel good out here. Rosetta gets on my shoulders and we walk deeper until I am waist deep, then Isabelle takes a picture of us when a wave splashes against our backs. As soon as the wave hits, I throw her off and we both fall under.

"Here comes another wave!" I hop on Kiana's back and we both get knocked back into the water again. After an hour of playing in the water we decide to leave. We make our way back to  our things and a small goose chase breaks out as everyone is collecting their things.

"Has anyone seen my other flip flop?" Isabelle raises up one of hers.

"Here it is." I find it under my beach towel.

"Hey." We all look up and we see a group of four cute guys walking towards us. The girls immediately drop whatever they are doing and everyone's attention is now on the guys standing in front of us.

"Hey, you guys lost or something?" Isabelle teases, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Nah, some people told us you are the girl we hit in the head with the volleyball during our little match earlier." One of them focuses on me.

"Yea, but it's okay. Really. It caused nothing but a slight headache. And someone brought me some pain medication so I'm fine. Honest."

"Oh, we just wanted to apologize and to make up for it, we figured we would take you guys out for some ice cream or something."

"That's sweet but I can't."

"Syd, why not?" Kiana eyes me.

"Dominic wants me to go somewhere with him. You guys can go though. It could still be a favor without me there."

"How are you going to get to the school?"

"I'm not going to stay either, I have to get back to Mark." Rosetta comes and loops her arm through mine.

"How will we get home?"

"We can take you guys back," one of the guys offers.

"Are you guys okay with that?" I turn to Isabelle and Kiana a little worried. These guys seem nice enough, but my friends are outnumbered.

"Yea, we'll be fine. We have each other and you guys are gonna take good care of us, right?" Isabelle walks up to the one nearest her and pokes him in the chest lightly. They give off a little laugh, but the one she approaches guarantees they will be safe.

"Alright, see y'all later!" Me and Rose wave as we walk off.

After a twenty minute walk, we finally find Rose's car and head back to the dorm.

"So, that Cedric guy seemed pretty interested in you."

"Girl, so? That guy was a creep. I was on the phone with Mickie earlier and he just stood there, watching me talk. Who does that?" She laughs beside me.

"Well, you cannot deny that he was cute."

"He was okay. My baby looks better." I bite my lip thinking about Dominic and Rosetta shakes her head.

"Aye, I am just saying. And Mr. Apologetic back there seemed kind of down when you mentioned Dominic. Mhm, see if you were single guys would be knocking down your doorstep. Dee better keep his guard up."

"Honey, don't act like you don't have to throw guys off you either. A bunch of those guys were peeling your bathing suit off of you with their eyes." She chokes on her laughter.

"You are so stupid! Let's just both agree we are fine as hell."

"Deal." She parks and we walk up to our dorm room. When we get inside, Mark is sprawled out on the couch asleep.

"Aw, he is so sexy when he sleeps." I smirk as I walk into my room. Laid out on my bed is Mickie, preoccupied on his phone.

"Well, hello. Nice to know you were stopping by."

"Oh, yea. Babe, I decided to get ready over here. Mark let me in."

"Okay. Well, I need a wonderful shower then we can go, okay?" He gets up off the bed and comes towards me.

"You need any help?"

"I am a big girl, I think I can bathe myself."

"I could get all the spots you can't reach." He grins in my face. I roll my eyes at him.

"Good thing I am flexible, huh?" I peck him on the lips before I disappear into the bathroom.

"No one likes a tease!" I hear him yell this through the door.

*

*

*

*

*

~~Chantelle~~

"So how long have you guys been together?" I hear Amanda ask Sydney this as she sits back down on the couch.

"Three years." Everyone sitting around them goes "daaaaaaaaaamn" at the same time. It sickens me how cute they are together. You can tell she has him wrapped around her little finger, by how he has not left her side the entire night except for when he had to go to the bathroom. I had no idea he would bring her tonight.

Okay, yea I was hoping, deep deep deep down inside, that he would want to just spend some time with me tonight and would forget his perfect little girlfriend for a moment. He's naturally nice and a little flirtatious, but a part of me was hoping he saw something in me. The night is young though. I just need them to be apart for two seconds.

I want him to look at me like he is looking at her. Like, he can't live without me and that if anything happens to me he will stay by my side no matter what. I want his arm wrapped around me like his is wrapped around her right now. That protective sort of thing, guys do when they want other guys to know that this is their girl and they can't have her. I've wanted those things from a guy before and could never find one who would do it. But he is so good to her, and that should really be me receiving all that love and attention.

Dominic whispers something in her ear and she nods. Then he gets up and walks into the clubhouse kitchen. I wait a second or two, then I follow. When I walk into the kitchen his back is partially to me and I take in his build and frame silently. He is so gorgeous it should be a crime. If I had him, I would have a field day. I find myself involuntarily biting my lip. Before I get too caught up into my head I speak.

"So, are you having fun?" He glances back at me, then turns back towards the refrigerator.

"Yea. Your friends are nice."

"And what about uh..."

"Syd? Yea, she is a people person anyways. Will talk to a hobo if he is nice and wants to hold a conversation." I laugh. Another thing I looove about him is his sense of humor. "You have a strawberry flavored one of these?" He holds up an orange Fanta.

"Yea. I put them in the freezer so they could get cold faster."

"Good, strawberry is her favorite flavor." Of course, I don't have to ask who. Knowing it is her favorite makes me wish I had have kept them for myself.

"That's funny, it's my favorite flavor too." I walk over to the freezer and reach for one sitting on the top. He has closed the refrigerator and is waiting for me to hand him the drink.

"Oh really? So you have bad taste like her, huh?" I laugh a little. He's so charming.

"Oh please, so what's your favorite flavor then, huh?" 

"Pineapple. The best of course." 

"Man whatever. That nasty ass flavor." I tease him and he shakes his head laughing. I love his smile. This is the few moments of attention I was waiting on.  Some time to show him my personality a little bit and give him some time to find me beautiful.

"Nah, you trippin'. But let me get this back to Syd before it gets to warm. Why you not out here with us?" He grabs both of their sodas off the counter and starts heading towards the door.

"I was just working on some things in here, but I'll be joining you guys in a second."

"Bet. Don't work too hard." With that, he is back out the door and our moment is over. Grabbing a bowl of chips I make my way back over to the window looking out into the living room trying to make myself seem busy. I walk up just in time to see him hand her the drink and her saying thank you in response.

Bitch.

The good ones always get taken out the game early. That's okay though, they might have came to this school together but college always has a way of ruining young couples. I'm sure they will fizzle out eventually. After ten more minutes, I make my way into the room with everyone and take a seat beside my roommate. A seat that is also directly across from them. Watching their interactions is so annoying. I hate I am being like this. A hater over someone else's relationship. I barely even know this guy, but something about him makes me want him. He gives me good vibes and a good feeling in between my legs.

"Hey you guys, it's been good, but we have to go. See you around school though." They both stand up and stretch out some, preparing to leave.

"Bye you guys, thanks for stopping by. Sydney, what dorm are you in?"

"That little Honors Scholar Dorm...the one with the really long name."

"I knew I had seen you around before. Me too. Next time I'll speak and maybe we can study together sometimes." My friend, Amanda, stands up to give her a hug goodbye. Friendly, friendly Amanda. Before heading towards the door, Dominic walks, with her, in my direction. Uncontrollable butterflies start to flutter a little in my stomach.

"We are about to head out. Thanks for inviting us." He gives me that "you are a good friend" hug. Still holding her hand and everything. I cannot even enjoy the hug, watching their fingers all intertwined.

"Bye Chantelle." Sydney gives me a small wave and I force a fake smile back to her.

"Bye, thank you guys for coming." I manage to squeeze out with a smile before they exit. They leave out and I go and sit on the couch where they were before.

"Well, they were cool."

"Yea, his girl was sexy as hell." Jamie says this and I glare at him.

"Bet you wouldn't say that if they were still sitting here. He'd probably step on your pip squeak ass." We all laugh at Dave. "I'm for real. Dude is BIG! Like muscular big. Bet coach would kill to keep him on that football team."

"Think he is on steroids?"

"Nah, he is too cool for that. Plus, I see him working out all the time. Lifting weights almost every morning, practice afternoons, mornings, or nights. He is dedicated, for real!"

"Dumb jock?"

"Nah, he is educated. His girl has the brains though. I heard she has been on the Dean's list every year, and she can also draw. Plus, she is on the Pom Squad."

"How do you know so much about them Dave? You apart of their fan club or something?" Amanda teases him and he rolls his eyes.

"You hear things. People just talk about them sometimes. They're like one of those couples people just see all the time, I guess."

"Ah, so a popular couple. Usually what happens to a couple like them around here." Ugh, I am so tired of this conversation already. We are still talking about them and they have left.

"Chantelle, how did you meet them?"

"Um, Dominic helped me one day with my stuff after a class we had. I was dropping stuff everywhere so he helped me carry it to my car."

"Nice. He is also a gentleman. Ooo, did anybody watch 'America's Best Dance Crew' last night?" They all start talking over each other trying to get their favorite parts of last night's episode out to everyone else.

I am not really paying attention to them. My mind has gone back to the day he helped me to my car. That was the day I developed a crush on him. He was just so nice and we made the cutest small talk. I could not help but look at how big his arms are. At first I thought he would be an asshole when I first saw him in class, but I eventually learned that was not the case when he stopped walking with his teammate to help me. I was really hoping after our encounter he was crushing back, but I guess not. That doesn't mean some feelings can't develop though.